The role of the Public Safety Advisory Commission in helping to select a site for relocation of Fire Station No. 2 is on hold for the time being.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan told commission members Nov. 13 their help in evaluating two proposed sites would not be needed until a potential land swap for one of the locations is complete.

The town is currently working toward a land trade with MCO Properties for a parcel on Fountain Hills Boulevard near Muskrat and Pinto drives.

Buchanan said a land appraisal has been ordered but is not expected to be complete before next month. The appraised value of each parcel will need to be comparable before the swap can go forward.

Also, Buchanan said the council will need to consider amendments to previous agreements with MCO regarding the Adero Canyon and Eagles Nest parcels to complete the trade.

The Fountain Hills Boulevard site would be compared to a location on Shea Boulevard where a plan already exists to relocate the station.

Buchanan said he would not spend any funds to evaluate the Fountain Hills Boulevard site until a land trade is complete.

Rural/Metro

Discussions with Rural/Metro regarding a new five-year contract are also on hold until the company emerges from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

Buchanan said the bankruptcy is scheduled to be completed in December, and if that is the case, he will begin working with Rural/Metro on a new agreement.

However, he noted that if the process is delayed into early next year the town will need to exercise an option it has to renew the existing contract for an additional two years.

Staff would not have time to work through a new agreement before the current one expires if the bankruptcy process is delayed, Buchanan said.

There was also some good news for Rural/Metro as the Arizona Department of Health Services renewed the company’s Certificate of Need to provide ambulance service in Maricopa County for an additional year.

ADHS officials had expressed concern about how the bankruptcy process might impact the company’s ability to provide ambulance services.

Rural/Metro Fountain Hills Chief Randy Roberts told commissioners that there was never a concern regarding the ambulance service for Fountain Hills residents.

Roberts said that since the bankruptcy was announced in late summer, response times in Fountain Hills have actually improved with an ambulance on scene within 10 minutes in 96 percent of all calls. The contract calls for 90 percent, and the number had been 91 percent, according to Roberts.

Rural/Metro spokesman Colin Williams said the firm is pleased with the certificate extension.

“We feel our operation in Fountain Hills is on the cutting edge of emergency response technology for the nation,” Williams said. “We look forward to many more years of serving the community.”

In other business, the commission re-appointed Lyle Edwards to serve as chairman for another year, and elected Tony Finocchio vice chairman.

The board also welcomed two new members in Larry Cole and Walt Franklin. The two new members along with Commissioner George Aliory were named by Edwards to a committee to organize Public Safety Day scheduled for Feb. 8.